Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Delhi gang rape victim dies: Cerebral edema proved fatal

A swollen brain finally got better of the fighting spirit of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim Nirbhaya as she succumbed to her injuries at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital at 2:15am (IST) on Saturday.

Cerebral edema - serious swelling of the brain, which resulted from the cardiac arrest on Tuesday night when Nirbhaya was still in India, along with severe infections, finally proved fatal.

A CT scan that was conducted after Nirbhaya reached Singapore showed that blood loss to her brain caused during the three-minute period when doctors at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi had failed to find a pulse or blood pressure, led to the brain edema - a dangerous condition where the brain's water content rises, causing the pressure to rise in the skull.

This cuts off oxygen supply as the blood vessels become squeezed. Cerebral edema is a medical emergency that can even lead to death as brain cells become damaged and die.

Prime minister Manohan Sngh said he was "deeply saddened to learn that the unfortunate victim of the brutal assault that took place on December 16 in New Delhi had succumbed to the grievous injuries she suffered following that attack. "I join the nation in conveying to her family and friends my deepest condolences at this terrible loss."

Singh said: "I want to tell them and the nation that while she may have lost her battle for life, it is up to us all to ensure that her death will not have been in vain. We have already seen the emotions and energies this incident has generated. These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change. It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channelize these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action."

According to Singh, the need of the hour is a dispassionate debate and inquiry into the critical changes that are required in societal attitudes.

He said that the government is examining, on priority basis, the penal provisions that exist for such crimes and measures to enhance the safety and security of women.

"I hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agenda to help us all reach the end that we all desire - making India a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in," Singh said.

Nirbhaya's health started to slide from Friday evening (6.30 pm IST) when she suffered multiorgan failure.

Doctors informed her family members that Nirbhaya's condition had seriously deteriorated as she was put on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which would help maximise her body's capability to fight infections.

In the early hours of Saturday, Mount Elizabeth hospital issued a fresh statement announcing the worst.

The hospital said: "In relation to the young female patient from Delhi who was assaulted in a bus, and who was transferred from a hospital in India to receive further treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on December 27, we are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4.45am (Singapore time) on December 29. Her family and officials from the high commission of India were by her side. The patient had remained in an extremely critical condition since admission to Mount Elizabeth hospital in the morning of Dec 27."

According to the hospital, despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists at Mount Elizabeth hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate and she suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.

"She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome," Dr Kelvin Loh, CEO of the hospital said.

Critical care specialist Dr Yatin Mehta from Medanta hospital, who had accompanied Nirbhaya to Singapore, told on his return to India on Saturday morning that the swelling of the brain finally took her life.

"A fresh episode of cardiac arrest resulted in multiorgan dysfunction syndrome. Her injuries were too severe. While being transported to Singapore, her oxygen requirements increased by 70%. We had carried 8 oxygen cylinders as standby, each capable of running for two hours. Six additional batteries were taken to ensure the machines ran fine during the flight. Her blood pressure fell to around 80 on route which we finally managed to bring back to normal. The injuries were horrendous," said Dr Mehta, who left for India from Singapore on Friday night when Nirbhaya was still alive, told on his return.

Dr Mehta also added that Nirbhaya's organs weren't fit for donation as they were seriously infected.

"We spoke to the family very frankly last night. We told her father and brothers that she is critical and might not pull through. Her family was stoic and handled the eventuality in a very mature way," Dr Mehta said.

Popular posts from this blog

As per the directives of the Honourable Supreme Court in its judgment dated,25.9.87, in writ petition No. 348-352 of 1985, all the State Governments, Medical Institutions and Universities are required to amend their rules and regulations to introduce a uniform residency scheme by 1993
“A uniform practice has to be evolved so that the discipline would be introduced. We accordingly allow the present arrangement to continue for a period of five yearsI.e. upto 1992 inclusive. For admission beginning from 1993 there would be only onepattern. All Universities and institutions shall take timely steps to bring about such amendments as may be necessary to bring statutes, regulations, and rules obtaining in their respective institutions in accord with this direction before the end of 1991 so that there may be no scope for raising of any dispute in regard to the matter.The uniform pattern has to be implemented for 1993. It is proper that one uniform system is brought into vogue throughout the co…

This research is being shared with us by a diligent reader on how deep the Media connections go. Puts the entire media bias in perspective. "1. Hindustan Times – Shobhna Bhartia, owner and editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times is a Congress MP from Rajya Sabha. 2. Vinod Sharma, HT Political Affairs editor, is essentially a Congress spokesman on all TV panel discussions, because once his boss’ term gets over, he will be looking out for her RS seat next 3. Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi, famous Congress stooges (and intermediaries for UPA allies) who were exposed in the Radiagate scandal, and are virtual Congress spokespersons in their capacities as electronic media personalities, are the ones who write opinion and op-ed columns most frequently (once every week) on the editorial pages of HT. In return, Barkha and Sanghvi are rewarded with Padma Shris and other monetary compensation by the Nehru dynasty or Congress party. 4. NDTV’s promoters are Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy. Radhika’s sister …

Here are the highlights of the survey: We received many votes in the survey, from various medical colleges of all states, ranging from batches 2000 to 2006.Received votes for more than seven PG Coaching Institutes from across the country including Bhatia, DAMS, IAMS, Speed PG Institute, MIMS Calicut, MEDPGTHRISSUR and others.Many students were in favour that rigorous self-study is important if NEET happens, and coaching is useful only with self-study.How the result is calculated?We have calculated the results by counting votes from only unique IPs to remove bias from multiple votes casting.An effective score is calculated institute-wise from the total votes submitted. This is to remove any bias occurred due to difference in number of votes for each institute.The effective scores are then compared under 4 broad ca…